From Here To Seaside Village
by MaiaRutledgeFan
Summary: Haley had a rough day with Jamie - and now he's disapeared. But Jamie's on a mission - to make it to Seaside Village, and reunite his parents.
1. Chapter 1

I'm a newbie to OTH, having only become a fan this past season. But now I love it! It just means you'll have to excuse me if I exercise a little bit of creative license and some things are slightly out of whack from the show. This is set in Season 5 – Nathan's depression and alcoholism escalated out of control and finally Haley convinced him to get treatment – so is currently in rehab. Jamie understands his dad is sick, but doesn't quite understand why he left.

**From Here To Seaside Village**

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It was 7:02, and Haley had exactly 8 minutes to get out of the house or she was going to be late. She hurriedly placed a bowl of cereal in front of her son.

'Eat.'

Jamie regarded his breakfast with disdain.

'Mama there's no milk in.'

Haley sighed loudly as she grabbed the milk from the fridge and passed it over.

Jamie was about to point out she hadn't opened the carton and he didn't know how, but was a little wary of his mom this morning. So he tried unsuccessfully to open it. He thought he just about had it, when it slipped from his grasp and hit the floor, bursting open on the kitchen tiles.

Haley turned around in horror.

'James Lucas Scott! For goodness sake. How did you manage that!' She gritted it her teeth and grabbed several dishtowels, trying to quickly wipe up the spill. It was now 7:10

Jamie bit his lip. He liked to toe the line, but he hated to be in trouble.

'Mama, I'm sorry.'

Haley didn't answer.

'Mama, I didn't mean to….'

'Jamie, get you stuff and get in the car. NOW.'

Jamie did so quickly, trying not to cry. He'd stayed up late last night with Skills, watching the game. But now he was tired and a little grumpy, and he'd made his momma mad. He didn't mean to spill the milk. He wished he was more grown and not so clumsy.

A few minutes later Haley jumped in the car and sped out of the driveway, neither Scott saying a word.

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It had been one of those days, Haley thought as she headed over to Brooke's. The students had been disruptive, resisting her every move. The Head of Department had berated her in front of the entire staff room for being late. Then she'd had to stay later for a last minute meeting, relying on Brooke to get Jamie from Kindergarten.

As she opened the door, Jamie looked up from his coloring, and rushed over to meet her. As he came into the hall, he collided with Brooke, also coming to greet Haley, coffee in hand, and the mug shattered on the floor. Aghast, Jamie halted, looking guiltily at his mom. He'd done it again.

She gave him a look that he knew meant trouble, before turning to her friend.

'Brooke, I'm SO sorry.'

Brooke shook her head.

'Don't be silly. I didn't like this mug anyhow.'

She smiled at Jamie, trying to make him feel better.

'Jamie, can you grab me the dustpan from the closet?'

Jamie nodded and ran from the room.

'Really Brooke, I'm sorry. He shouldn't have been running.'

'C'mon Haley, he was just eager to see you.' She paused.

Haley concentrated in picking up the larger pieces of shattered ceramics.

'You okay, Hales?'

Haley sighed.

'I dunno Brooke. It's just so hard. With Nathan gone – I thought I could do it by myself, I really did. But Jamie… he can be such a handful sometimes…'

She squeezed her eyes tightly, trying to stop the tears from coming, but they did anyway.

'I'm just so tired, and sometimes I feel like Jamie fights me on everything – like he almost blames me for his dad leaving. I'm trying the best I can… I just… I don't know that it's good enough anymore. If I could just have 5 minutes for myself... I don't know what to do anymore. I just don't know'

From around the corner, dustpan in hand, Jamie listened, his head hung low. He'd made his momma cry. He was a handful. He knew sometimes her argued with his momma, that he got angry sometimes because his dad left. But deep down he knew, it wasn't his Momma's fault. His daddy was sick, and he had to go away. But his mom was here, his mom hadn't left him. But now she didn't seem to want him either.

Brooke put an arm around Haley.

'You're a great mom, Haley. You doing an awesome job, Jamie is the sweetest kid. I know it's hard, but I'm here, and so is Peyton. We love helping out, you know that. You can do this, I know you can. And we'll be here for you, always.'

Quietly, Jamie rounded the corner to place the dustpan by Brooke and went back to his coloring.

Maybe he should go away, like his daddy. Maybe then his mom could have a vacation, then she would feel better. Suddenly he had an idea. He could go see his dad. His dad said seeing him always made him feel better. Then he could make his momma happy and his daddy happy! Maybe if his dad was better, then he could come home, and the three of them would all be happy again.

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If you have ever seen To Grandmas House We Go or the episode of ER where Alex runs away, you may pick up some of my inspiration! Also, if you have any thoughts of where you want this to go for Naley, your ideas would be greatly appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own OTH, but if I did, well…. It would pretty much be the same actually. The shows so darn good, there's not all that much I'd change!

**From Here To Seaside Village**

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The buzzing of the doorbell drew Haley unwillingly from her slumber. It buzzed a second time and then she realized it was Brooke, and the alarm hadn't gone off, and she was supposed to be leaving for work, like, now.

She flew out of bed, threw on some clothes, and rushed to answer the door.

'Brooke, hi, come in, I'm running late, thanks for taking care of Jamie, it's teacher only day, couldn't get time off. Have you seen my purse? Jamie's still in bed. There's soda and chips and stuff in the cupboard. Help your self. Have you seen my purse?'

Brooke grabbed Haley's arm.

'Hey, take a breath once in a while!'

Haley finally spotted her purse and raced over to grab it.

'I have to go. I can do makeup in the car. I don't have time to wake up Jamie, tell him I said to be good okay.'

'Relax, Haley. We'll be fine. Here'

She shoved a banana at Haley.

'You need to eat something.'

Haley chucked the banana in her purse and gave Brooke a quick hug before fleeing out the door.

Two seconds later she was back in.

'Forgot my shoes.'

And then she was gone again. Brooke watched after her, an amused smile on her face.

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Jamie looked up from his coloring and across the table at Brooke, who was also coloring. He liked it when adults helped. They always knew how to color inside the lines. He hadn't quite mastered that yet.

'I'm sleepy. I think I'll go take a nap.'

Brooke looked at him, surprised.

'Well sure buddy, if you're tired.'

Jamie nodded and got down off the stool to make his way to the bedroom. Halfway there he stopped, turned around and ran back to give Brooke a kiss on the cheek, before heading towards him room once again. Brooke stared after him, again amused by the antics of the Scott family members. It was turning out to be a strange day. In the other room, she heard the theme song of her favorite daytime soap beginning, so she headed in to the den to watch while Jamie slept.

Jamie watched quietly from his doorway as his Aunt headed into the den. He counted quietly to ten, then reached underneath his bed for his duffle, which he had packed the night before. He said a whispered goodbye to his room, then tiptoed down the hallway towards the backdoor. Opening it ever so slowly, he hid his duffel behind the barbeque, then quietly closed the door behind him. Standing very still, he counted again, slowly, to ten, to make sure his Aunt hadn't heard the door and come looking for him.

Satisfied, he grabbed the duffel again and made his way quickly to the back gate, slipped through, and found himself standing on the street, ready for his big adventure.

The show finally finished on a final cliffhanger, and Brooke made a mental note to watch it again tomorrow. She stood up to go check on Jamie.

Peeking her head round the door, she was puzzled to find him not in his bed.

'Jamie?' She called

She checked under the bed and in the closet. No Jamie.

She padded cautiously down the hall, half expecting him to pop out at her from a doorway. But there was no sign of him.

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Jamie had taken the bus before, with his dad a few times when Nathan wasn't allowed to drive. He knew where the bus stop was, not so far from his house. He also knew to get on the bus through the back door, so that the bus driver didn't see you. He'd seen that in a movie.

There were no empty seats, so he sat next to an elderly lady with a cheerful looking coat.

She was quietly singing the John Jacob song to herself, the one Jamie had learnt in preschool. She looked lonely singing it all by herself, so Jamie whispered along

_John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt,_

_His name is my name too._

_Whenever we go out_

_The people always shout,_

_"There goes John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt."_

NA NA NA NA NA NA NA

The last line they sung loudly, but the bus was crowded and noisy and nobody heard.

The lady turned to him and smiled. Jamie tried not be scared by the fact she was missing half her teeth.

'Well now Sonny Jim, whereabouts you headed.'

'Actually, my name's Jamie, and I'm going to see my dad. But I'm really not supposed to talk to strangers.'

'Well now, whereabouts does your daddy live?'

'At a place called Seaside Village.'

'Well now Sonny Jim, this bus doesn't go to the seaside. It goes uptown, and then back downtown, and then it goes uptown again… you see?'

Jamie nodded. He did see.

'Well now, you'll be getting off uptown, the big blue bus, that'll be the one that takes you to the seaside.'

Jamie nodded, hoping she'd stop talking soon, as he really wasn't supposed to be talking to her. He'd only meant to sing.

'I love the seaside. Ice Creams and umbrellas. 'No swimming for two hours after you've eaten.' My Pa used to say.'

She sighed, a faraway look in her eye, and glanced out the window.

'No swimming for two hours' she repeated quietly to herself.

When the bus got near the big fountain, and he could see lots of other buses, he figured it was uptown. He turned to say goodbye to the lady, but she had fallen asleep against the window, a small line of drool trailing down the glass. He hoped she didn't miss her stop.

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Brooke had scoured the house for 20 minutes, and was now facing the possibility that she had lost her best friends baby boy. She couldn't put it off any longer. She knew she had to call Haley. With shaky fingers, she dialed.

Haley was in the middle of a discussion when the secretary knocked on the door. She was slightly annoyed at the distraction – the kids were finally getting the idea of the topic after half an hour of getting nowhere.

She turned impatiently.

'Can I help you?'

The secretary looked slightly guilty.

'I'm sorry, there's an urgent call for you at the office.'

Haley waited for her to elaborate. When she didn't, Haley sighed.

'I'm in the middle of a class.'

The secretary shrugged.

'She said to tell you it's Brooke. And that it's urgent.'

Haley froze. Brooke. Brooke was calling her at work and saying it was urgent.

Brooke was watching Jamie.

She pushed past the secretary without another word and hurried towards the office.

Breathlessly she picked up the phone passed to her.

'Brooke?'

'Haley, I, uh…'

'Brooke, what's going on. Is Jamie okay?'

'Haley, I…. I can't find him.'

'What do you mean you can't find him!?'

'I mean, he went to take a nap about an hour or so ago, but I've searched the entire house, and… uh…'

'Brooke, what!'

'He's not here, Haley. I'm so sorry.'

Haley felt her blood go cold. Her house was big, but not that big. Not big enough to completely loose a 5 year old in.

'Brooke, I'm leaving right now. I'll be home as soon as I can.'

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Sorry for the delay, I'm on more of a roll now :D Has anyone seen the spoilers for 6.05? I can't wait!!


	3. Chapter 3

So… I'm still in awe of today's ep - sure bought on some tears huh. And some really bizarre revelations about Carrie!

**From Here To Seaside Village**

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The lady in the 7-11 wasn't being entirely helpful. Dan stood in the aisle next to the window trying to find the damn eye drops which the lady had insisted were in aisle one. They weren't.

Glancing out the window, he caught sight of a kid about Jamie's age, with blonde spiky hair just like his grandson's.

In fact, the kid looked a lot like Jamie. Of course, Dan had never met the kid, so he couldn't be entirely sure. He'd seen pictures, and they sure looked a lot like the boy standing across the street.

The kid turned around, and Dan became more certain that it was Jamie. He glanced up and down the street, searching for a sign of Nathan or Haley. Abandoning his quest for eye drops, he made his way out of the store and stood on the sidewalk, watching the boy.

Jamie couldn't see a blue bus anywhere. He had a bad feeling that the bus only existed in the lady's head, in a time that existed a long time before him or maybe even his parents.

He was about to get on the nearest bus and hope for the best, when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

'Hey, son, you lost?'

Jamie turned around, shaking his head. Trying to remember not to talk to strangers. Though the man seemed vaguely familiar.

'Your mom and dad around?'

Again, Jamie shook his head.

'I bet they taught you not to talk to strangers, huh.'

Now Jamie nodded.

'Well, son, I don't know if you'd recognize me but I'm your dad's father. Your Grandpa Dan.'

Jamie brightened.

'Oh, I think I know. My dad has pictures of you. In his old albums.'

He frowned. 'But he says you did something bad, and he doesn't talk to you anymore.'

Dan nodded and thought for a moment. 'Did you ever get a time out, Jamie?'

Jamie nodded somberly. 'One time, I spilled my Cheerios on the floor, and I didn't clean it up 'cause my show was on. Then my momma walked in the kitchen and squished them all up and she was pretty mad.'

'Well… I've had a really big time out for the bad thing I did. But now my time out is done, you see? So now, I figure I can talk to your dad. I'm just… not sure where he is at the moment.'

Jamie shrugged. 'Yeah, I dunno either.'

Dan's eyes widened in surprise.

'You don't?'

'Well, I know he's at some place called Seaside Village. But this lady told me to take the blue bus to the coast, but I can't find the bus.'

Dan chuckled. 'Let me get this straight. You're taking the bus to go visit your dad, at a place called Seaside Village, but you don't know which bus to take? Didn't your momma put you on the right bus and tell you when to get off?'

Jamie looked down.

'My momma… my momma doesn't know I'm here.'

Dan considered this information for a while. The kid knew where Nathan was. He could take Jamie with him, up to the coast, and maybe… maybe Nathan would be so grateful to Dan for finding his son, that he'd be willing to talk.

'Well kid, I have a proposition for you.'

'A propa… a propa what.?'

Dan smiled. 'An idea.'

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I know, I know. Short chapter today! But have hope – there's a very important Naley scene coming up in the next chapter!


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